(©Black Sun Ensemble 1991)</p>

They just could not help themselves you see<br>
Instead of trusting they despised<br>
Mostly logic thus the ignorance made them divide</p>

In the mad search for power they destroyed each other<br>
Their justification was this; We are better; We are stronger; We can be richer</p>
So they forged their weapons, designed their emblems<br>
And vowed to their Gods and their wealth<br>
We will conquer in the name of <b>Rohan</b> our celebrated leader<br>
Assemble battalions, <b>riders of Rohan</b><br>
Women will tend to the fields<br>
And sadly kiss them, as their husbands and children must ride again<br>
The air of excitement, the roar of the peasants<br>
The day was upon them<br>
Their furious courage to guide them across unfriendly land</p>

The trumpets sounded, the soldiers mounted<br>
The horses so faithfully galloped<br>
Into battle where the blood will flow free<br>
From scattered bodies on sacred ground</p>

STENGTH – HONOUR – VALOUR<br>
The smell of the power, intangible pulsating lust<br>
In a clearing or a kingdom, they died as they must<br>
The fighting subsided, triumphant delighted, defeated retreated in vain<br>
Though the survivors crushed, regroup to kill once again</p>

Now if all this seems fruitless, then why do we do this?<br>
Has history not made itself clear?<br>
That any such empire fueled by such warfare<br>
Will eventually fall and disappear…</p>

<b><u>Comments</b></u><br>
The interesting thing about this song is that it chooses Tolkien's heroic Northmen as an emblem for all the anti-heroic qualities associated with imperialism. (Given the general tenor of Black Sun Ensemble's music, I expect they've got the plight of native Americans in the face of European encroachment in mind.) This song would seem, then, to be the only known musical expression of the critical position that views Tolkien's mythology as an endorsement of a simplistic and potentially destructive morality.</p>